AUGUST 2002 - Vol 18 - Issue 08

Newsletter - Internet Edition

The July meeting was presented by Sherry Nisly and Jon Slough. Sherry demonstrated a free program called Irfanview, and described how to make a slide show made with Irfanview self-starting and burn it to a CD-ROM.

Jon displayed several features of organizing data on a hard drive and methods to keep it clean. There was a good deal of questions and interaction on both portions of the program. There was also a handout on Irfanview which can be gotten at the August meeting by anyone who is interested.

The following is a listing of each EPCUG office and their duties. Nominations will be taken from the floor again at the August meeting. Please consider contacting Marty Mielke or any other officer if you are interested. Remember, more than just a few must participate or the group cannot survive.

Excerpted from the EPCUG Bylaws:

Article 2: Duties of the Board of Directors

Section 1: Duties of the Board of Directors - It shall be the duty of the Board of Directors to conduct the affairs of EPCUG in a manner to achieve the objectives of the EPCUG as stated in the Constitution.

Section 2: President - The President shall preside at both the general meetings and the Board of Directors meetings. The President shall be a signing officer for official EPCUG documents, and shall have duties as specified in Robert's Rules of Order. The President shall also have responsibility for arranging meeting locations and schedules for the Board of Directors meetings.

Section 3: Vice-President - The Vice-President shall act on behalf of the President, in the event the President is unavailable, and shall replace the President, in the event the President is unable to complete the term of office. The Vice-President shall be responsible for arranging meeting locations and dates for the general membership meetings. The Vice-President shall also organize an election committee, to nominate a slate of new candidates for the following year and to run the election.

Section 4: Secretary - The Secretary shall maintain proper records and minutes of the Board of Directors meetings, as well as the records of EPCUG, in general. The Secretary shall have the authority to act as President in the event the President and the Vice-President are unavailable. He/she shall submit a summary of the proceedings of the Board to the Newsletter Editor, on a quarterly basis. All official EPCUG records shall be delivered to the new Secretary, immediately following any transition.

Section 5: Treasurer - The Board of Directors shall appoint a Treasurer, who shall receive and disburse all monies into an account in the name of EPCUG.

The Treasurer will also be required to maintain standard accounting books and records, furnish quarterly and annual reports to the Board of Directors and prepare other reports and forms as needed. An audit of the Treasurer's records, and all funds and property under the Treasurer's control shall be conducted annually within the month of October, or within 30 days of the office of Treasurer changing persons, by the President and two officers other than the Treasurer. In the event the office of Treasurer changes persons, the Treasurer shall surrender all records, together with any and all funds and property under the Treasurer's control. All disbursements made by the Treasurer, unless authorized by special resolution of the Board of Directors, shall be supported by vouchers and/or cancelled checks or receipts. All non-recurring expenditures shall require prior board approval. Signing privileges for checks shall be determined by the Board of Directors. In addition, the Treasurer shall serve as financial officer. He/she shall submit a report to the Newsletter Editor, on a quarterly basis.

Section 6: Program Director - The Program Director shall arrange and schedule appropriate programs for the general membership meetings, with input from the membership and the Board of Directors. Other responsibilities include follow-up with the speaker before the meeting, greeting the speaker and taking the speaker to dinner before the meeting if time is available. The Program Director shall submit a newsletter article each month, announcing the speaker and topic for the following general meeting.

Section 7: SIG Director - The Special Interest Group (SIG) Director shall provide a liaison between the SIG Leader(s) and the Board of Directors. As necessary, the SIG Director shall help arrange meeting locations, publicize meetings and topics and request appropriate funding. In some cases, he/she may help to organize a new SIG, recruit a SIG leader or help with topics.

Section 8: Membership Director - The Membership Director shall be responsible for maintaining a computerized and up-to-date list of all EPCUG members. One or more copies of this list shall be available at the sign-in table at the general meeting. The Membership Director shall be responsible for managing the sign-in table, along with counting the money collected and delivering it to the Treasurer with a signed receipt. In the event that he cannot attend a particular meeting, the Membership Director shall make arrangements with another member of the Board of Directors to work the sign-in table. Additional duties include printing mailing labels for the newsletter, organizing the preparation of the newsletter and taking it to the Post Office for distribution.

Section 9: Directors-at-Large - The Directors-at-Large shall attend meetings of the Board of Directors. They shall also attend the general membership meetings, gather feedback from the members, and work to represent the interests of the membership.

Section 10: Advertising Director - The Board of Directors shall annually appoint an Advertising Director, who shall be responsible for selling advertising and promoting sponsorships, and for delivering pertinent ad copy and names to the Newsletter Editor. The Treasurer shall also be notified of amounts to be billed for advertising sold.

Section 11: Public Relations Director - The Board of Directors shall annually appoint a PR Director, who shall be responsible for developing ideas for and helping to implement Public Relations ideas, such as special projects, advertising EPCUG meetings through electronic methods, such as the Internet or BBS systems, and flyers, etc., as well as arranging for information on meetings to be published through local media. This shall include listing meeting dates and content on free calendars, as well as free 'Notices to the Public' type listings and in newspaper business or meeting sections provided for similar purposes. Paid advertising shall only be done with prior approval of the Board of Directors.

Section 12: Resource Librarian - The Board of Directors shall annually approve the appointment of a Resource Librarian. The duties of the Resource Librarian shall be related to the acquisition and distribution of public domain, shareware, and/or other software products in compliance with the copyright laws. Other materials, such as videotapes, books and literature may also be maintained in the EPCUG library. The Resource Librarian shall make copies of library resources available to the general membership, and shall establish an efficient operating procedure.

Section 13: Newsletter Editor - The Board of Directors shall annually approve the appointment of a Newsletter Editor, whose duties shall include publication of a monthly newsletter, to be circulated to all members in good standing. The Newsletter Editor may appoint one or more staff members to assist with the newsletter publication. The Editor shall be responsible for operating within the budget approved by the Board of Directors.

Section 14: Web Editor - The Board of Directors shall annually approve the appointment of a Web Editor. The Web Editor shall be responsible for designing, posting, and maintaining an Internet Web Site for EPCUG. This shall include preparing and posting an electronic copy of the EPCUG newsletter.

Product Review: Microsoft Plus! Game Pack: Cards & Puzzles by Marcus Nisly, EPCUG Member

Designed as a Windows ME enhancement, Plus! Game Pack: Cards & Puzzles, also plays on 95, 98, and 2000 systems. There are 12 card games including Hearts, Spades, Cribbage, Pinochle, Crazy 8's, Oh Hell!, Go Fish, Old Maid, Euchre, Gin Rummy, Schafkopf, and Skat. In addition, there are 10 mind challenging puzzles, including Fringer, Finty Flush, Mixed Genetics, Charmer, Rat Poker, Color Collision, Jewel Chase, Lineup, Spring Weekend, and Muddled Casino.

The games can be played on the Internet, on a local network, or alone. Setting the game up for local network was simple, although it did take two tries to get the two games to recognize each other. Playing on the network, did seem to create some interference with some of the functions, for example, while playing Euchre you will sometimes be bypassed without the option to order or pass, or sometimes it will not play what you intended. This may not be all the time, but is something to watch for and can be a bit frustrating. Otherwise, it was very fun to play with someone, rather than always just the computer. Machines may be programmed to be smart, but people are still more fun.

There is also a trial sample of Pandora's Box, a game from the creator of Tetris. This is a fully functional mini version, and is a good sampling of what you will get in that program. It is very fun and interesting.

One of the biggest downfalls to this pack is the amount of space it takes if you do not want to insert the CD-ROM each time to enjoy the full effects of the games. It requires over 525 megs, but you can leave voices and some of the music on the CD-ROM and the games play just fine. This saves nearly 400 megs worth of space. There is also a minimal installation that only requires about 60 megs, but you do have to insert the CD-ROM every time you play with this method.

The Plus Game Pack is slow to open, so you have to be a bit patient to begin with. This appears to be a DOS based-game, as the screen goes black then covers your entire screen, including the Taskbar. This may not be to some peoples liking, although it can be minimized easily enough to go back to Windows.

Be sure to use the GAME menu to exit, rather than clicking the X in the upper right corner when done playing a game, if you are wanting to play another selection. Using the menu puts you back at the beginning where the games are listed. Using the X closes the entire program.

System Requirements:
Multimedia PC with a Pentium 166+ MHz (Pentium II 233 MHz recommended)
32 MB of RAM
150 MB of available hard disk space
Quad speed or faster CD-ROM drive
Super VGA video display with 2 MB VRAM (4 MB VRAM recommended)
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, or Windows 2000 operating system

My system is a Pentium II 233 with 64 megs of ram, and the game was a bit slow, so I think the recommended system is a bit on the low side. There is enough variety to satisfy most people, and for $14.95, it's well worth the money!

Part 1 - My Favorite E-Mail Program and can be found in our February 2002 issue on page 2 of the Newslink located on our website at http://www.tyler.net/tcc
(EPCUG Editor: We reprinted it in the May 2002 EPCUG Newsletter.)

I use Incredimail, http://www.incredimail.com, for my e-mail program, and one of the nice things about it is that I can find so many different stationeries to use. The Incredimail home gallery offers a wide variety as well as animations, sounds and e-cards. All these can also be found on many sites all over the Internet.

Going to www.yahoo.com and typing "incredimail stationary" in the search window and will result in multiple listings that feature downloadable stationary. A popular site listing that you will see is Bomis, where you find many popular stationary sites with a short description of each. On most you simply have to click on a download button or the stationary itself and it will automatically add itself to your style box. On others it's a little more involved but instructions are usually available under help. Also listed there are some incredimail groups. An extensive list of 161 incredimail groups with description can be found at: http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=incredimail.

To participate in most of the groups you would have to join...its FREE. and be a part of that group. Some groups require that you be on "individual mail" to be a member and some do not. By being on individual mail, you will receive and be able to "snag" all the stationary that goes thru the group. Some of these groups, in order to cut down on unnecessary mail traffic have replies going directly back to the sender instead of passing back thru the group for all to see, this helps eliminate a lot of unwanted mail for those on dialup.

To help me manage my group mail (I'm currently in 7 groups) I establish a second identity in Incredimail. Basically what you have then are 2 separate accounts in the same e-mail program. My group mail is then kept separate and does not get mixed up with my regular mail. Another thing that I did was to have each groups mail go into its own subfolder by using the message rules found under Tools. A subfolder needs to be added prior to using the Rules, and usually given a group name.

This second account can be set up thru your ISP as a second address or you can get another e-mail address from the many free or pay hosts that are available. Each server\host usually has instructions on how to setup your new e-mail address to enable you to download your mail via your POP account. You should find a host who will give you as much storage as possible. If you do not have enough storage then your group mail will be bounced back to the sender and Yahoo may think you are on vacation and suspend your account until you reactivate it. Be aware some hosts do not allow you to do this since it is in violation of their terms. services such as Juno and I believe AOL do not, while Yahoo and Hotmail do. I will list some free e-mail sites with their storage amounts at the end of this article.

Why join these groups? Oh. to "snag" the stationary and "beg" for "tags" of course!! Each message will have a different stationary, or "stat" as they are called, but some will be personalized with the senders name and they usually include a "tag" which is what is known as a digital signature and consists of a smaller image of the stationary graphic with the senders name embedded...although it does not have to be the same image as that of the stationary itself.

Snagging - When you see a stat that you like, simply click on the yellow star in the upper right hand corner of the e-mail message. It will then automatically add itself to your style box, where all your stationary is stored. Each will usually add itself to its own category and you will then have to organize it at a later date or you will have hundreds of categories. Your style box is accessed whenever you write an email by clicking on the red tab on the left side of your stationary. As you click on each category you will see a list of stat names, select each one to view the stationary. To organize stats, simply select the one you wish to move, drag and drop it into the category into which you want it to belong.

Begging for Tags - Tags are used in the same manner as a written signature. To receive a personalized tag, we "beg" for it. It is named begging in fun, not fact. All you do is request it from the person who wrote the letter and if that person made it they will usually make you one. If not, they will generally tell you who did and direct you to them.if they can remember. Tags are sent to you as attachments with an e-mail, simply click on the paper clip, and save into a folder that you have established for it.

Incredimails Signatures - are separate from and can be used in place of or in conjunction with a tag. There you can "write" your own name in the graph and it will transfer it to the signature box. Tags may also be added to the signature box. I use a time\weather bar below my written signature. The time\weather bar can be found at www.wunderground.com, type your town and state into the fast search window. When your forecast arrives, scroll down until you see "add this sticker..." in the left column and click on it. There you have a choice of several formats, select the one you like, highlight the bar and copy. Open a new message, go to Tools, Edit Signature and click in the box below the graph, paste in the bar by doing a "CTRL V". If you would like this with every message that you send, you would check the box "insert to outgoing messages" and "insert to reply\forward" under Tools\Options\Compose. This has to be done for each identity or it will only work for one.

Ok, I think I have covered getting yourself some tags and stats and what to do with them once you've found them, but if you have any questions, feel free to email me "sigrid@tyler.net" and I will do my best to help you with any further questions.

As promised, here are some of the free e-mail sites. These sites were compiled by Charles Misner of Catskill Herbs 'n Spice, http://www.csng.net/, an IM group owner\moderator.

50 mgs	http://www.totalise.net	Good one
20 mgs	http://www.graffiti.net
50 mgs	http://www.smartvia.de	in German
10 mgs	http://www.ailandnews.com
20 mgs	http://www.macnews.de
no limit?	http://www.onemarq.com
10 mgs	http://www.telebot.com
10 mgs	http://www.subdimension.com
15 mgs	http://www.visto.com
20 mgs	http://www.mail.uk2.net
50 mgs	http://www.Xlarge.de	in German
100 mgs	http://www.freeserve.com
no limit	http://www.madasafish.com
40 mgs	http://www.eudoramail.com
10 mgs	http://www.gmx.com
no limit	http://www.freeuk.com
unknown	http://www.atozasia.com

You may (or may not :) have noticed after a fresh WinME install (NOT on top of Windows 95 or 98, which include this file!), that the System Configuration Editor (SysEdit.exe) is missing. :(

If you don't know what it does, or have never used it, SysEdit edits the DOS mode startup files found in the boot drive root directory (C:\): AUTOEXEC.BAT + CONFIG.SYS, and the Windows initialization files: PROTOCOL.INI, SYSTEM.INI + WIN.INI, found in C:\Windows, creating also corresponding backup copies with the .SYD extension.

To get it back, you need to have a Win98 retail or 98 SE Setup CD-ROM. Pop it in, open a DOS prompt box, and run:

Win98 retail:

Win98 SE:

The following web page discusses Microsoft discontinue schedules. Many people are still running old stuff. While it appears that they will need to upgrade their operating system, it does not mean new software definitely will not run. It does mean the old systems will not be supported directly, but for an undetermined time patches and updates are still available. It was rumored that Windows 95 patches and service packs were gone, but they are still available, for now.

Windows Desktop Product Lifecycle Guidelines (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycleconsumer.asp)

The August 22nd General Meeting will feature PowerQuest Corporation and AccessData Corporation. These companies publish some excellent hard drive utilities. PowerQuest's PartitionMagic helps to organize your data while running multiple operating systems on the same computer. Drive Image 2002 was just announced on April 23rd with many new features, including LAN support, create and restore drive images while running in Windows, and Easy-to-use, intuitive Windows interface. AccessData publishes hard drive security products including SecureClean & WipeDrive.

The presentation will focus on the following topics: How to Move to Windows XP; Backing up your Hard Drive; and Securing your Hard Drive. Windows XP has gathered a lot of attention the past few months. Many users are looking for ways to move their computers to the new operating system, but aren't sure what is the best way for them to go. The presenter, Randy Whittle, will outline six ways that you may use to get to Windows XP. He will describe advantages and disadvantages of the most important approaches. If you are thinking of going to Windows XP in the future, this is a presentation you will not want to miss.

Randy will bring handouts and exciting door prizes as well. "Special User Group Prices" on many of these products will be offered at the meeting and available to take home with you. It should be a super meeting. Bring a friend and don't miss it!